Beatle El Shafi Elsheikh has been found guilty of taking hostages and plotting to assassinate journalists and aid workers in Syria.
The 33-year-old former British citizen has been identified as part of an Islamic State terrorist cell operating in Iraq and Syria, whose members have been dubbed the Beatles because of their accents in the United Kingdom.
The group caused outrage around the world after releasing videos of the executions of American journalists James Foley and Stephen Sotloff.
US and British authorities say the IS Beatles were responsible for killing 27 people, including British volunteers David Haynes and Alan Henning and US aid workers Kayla Mueller and Peter Cassig.
Read more: The brother of the Beatle victim’s victim welcomes the verdict of guilt
Image: (LR) The victims of IS David Haynes, Steve Sotloff, Alan Henning and James Foley
The group’s leader, Mohamed Emuazi, nicknamed Jihadi John, was killed in a drone strike in 2015, while a third member, Alexanda Kotei, was already serving his sentence behind bars.
Another man, Ain Davis, who is currently in prison in Turkey, was not considered part of the cell by the US Department of Justice.
Known for their cruelty
During his introductory remarks, the Virginia court heard that Elsheich and his colleagues were “utterly horrifying” and held more than 20 Western hostages in a prison called the Desert.
The victims were subjected to “ruthless and unpredictable” violence, prosecutors said, adding that the perpetrators “seem to be happy to beat them”.
They were given “dead legs” and placed in “stressful positions” while “threatened with murder”, the jury was told.
The group was notorious for its brutality, forcing prisoners to fight with each other and making them sing parodies of songs.
Image: Impression of an artist from Elsheich in court
The surviving hostages testify that the Beatles are happy to rewrite “Hotel California” as “Hotel Osama” and make them sing the refrain “You will never leave.”
The conviction came, although none of the surviving hostages could identify Elsheikh as one of their captors. Despite their distinctive accents, they always hid their faces behind masks and ordered hostages to avoid eye contact or risk being beaten.
All the surviving hostages were Europeans, and all Americans and Britons were killed.
The verdict focused on four American deaths
Sentences on all eight counts in the U.S. District Court in Alexandria revolve around the deaths of four American hostages: James Foley, Stephen Sotloff, Peter Cassig and Kayla Mueller.
All but Ms Mueller were executed by beheading videos distributed online. Ms. Mueller was forced into slavery and repeatedly raped by Islamic State leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi before she was assassinated.
Image: Alexanda Kotei is already serving a prison sentence
Elsheikh, who was captured by the Kurdish-led Syrian Defense Forces in 2018, eventually admitted his role in the scheme to interrogators as well as media interviewers, acknowledging that he helped gather e-mail addresses and provided evidence of the lives of the hostage families as part of ransom negotiations.
Surviving witness Federico Motka recounted a moment in the summer of 2013 when he and his cellmate David Haynes were placed in a room with American hostage James Foley and British hostage John Cantley about what they called the Royal Rumble. The losers were told they would be watered.
Weak from hunger, two of the four fainted during the one-hour battle.
The United States has promised not to seek the death penalty
Defense attorneys admitted that Elshayk was a member of the ID, but said prosecutors had failed to prove he was the Beatles. They cite the lack of clarity about who the Beatles are and the confusion about whether there are three or four members of the cell.
However, prosecutors said it did not matter whether Elsheich was “George” or “Ringo”.
Image: El Shafee Elsheikh (R) with Alexanda Kotey in March 2018
Kotei and Elsheich were captured together in 2018 and taken to Virginia in 2020 to stand trial after the United States promised not to seek the death penalty.
Kotei pleaded guilty last year to a plea deal that requires a life sentence, but leaves open the possibility that he will serve his sentence in the United Kingdom after 15 years in America.
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